Circular knife and retaining-gear therefor for cloth-cutting machines.



PATENTED EEB. 20, 1906.

H. A. MEYER. CIRCULAR KNIFE AND RETAINING GEAR THEREECR FOR CLOTH CUTTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.4. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1N VEA/TOR W/ NESSES No. 813,313. PATENTED PEB. 2p, 1906. H. A. MEYER. CIRCULAR KNIFE AND RBTAINING GEAR THERBFOR FOR CLOTH CUTTING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED 19.110,4, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

Ey.. .fi

1%.... N WN IINITEI) STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HENRY ANDREW MEYER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WOLF ELECTRICAL PROMOTING COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPO- RATION OF OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2o, 1906.

Application filed December 4, 1905. Serial Nou 290,230.

T0 a/ZZ whom, it 11i/ty concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY ANDREW MEYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Circular Knife and Retaining-Gear Therefor for Cloth-Cutting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to cloth-cutting machines having rotary disk cutters or circular knives. In the operation of such machines the fabric divides and parts to opposite sides of the knife as the latter moves along the cloth. For that reason it is desirable that the construction transverse of the knife shall be as narrow as possible consistent with strength and durability in order to avoid spreading the fabric wide apart, and thereby encountering difiiculties and inaccuracies in cutting.

In view of this requirement the object of the present invention is to provide a knife and retaining-gear of a minimum width consistent with mechanical strength, and yet insure perfect rigidity of the knife, so that it cannot slip o r wear loose by reason of the terrific shearing strain to which it is subject, at the same time dispensing with fastening pins or keys which would impair the strength of these narrow parts and also continually work loose and wear away.

The foregoing object is attained by means substantially as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and wherein- Figure 1 is a side view of a cloth-cutting machine having my invention embodied therein. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the lower part of the machine, taken centrally through the rotary knife and its retaining-gear. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a fragment of the retaining-gear of the knife. Fig. 4 is a side view of the circular knife and collar which clamps the same to its retaining-gear, a fragment of the collar being broken away to disclose the hub portion of the gear. Fig. 5 is a central vertical cross-section of the subject-matter of Fig. 4, showing the knife and collar in section and showing the gear in elevation. Fig. 6 is a central vertical cross-section of the gear, knife, and collar, showing these partsunassembled. l

A particular explanation of the illustrated construction is as follows: From the baseplate 1 rises the narrow standard 2, carrying the circular knife 3 and superimposed motor 4, which operates the knife through a train of intermeshed gears 5, 6, 7, and S, journaled, respectively, upon studs projected laterally from the standard, the gears being mounted upon ball-bearings. As usual, the knife 3 lies close beside the narrow standard in a lateral recess in the base thereof, the top and rear edges of the knife being thus guarded by the curved 'Hange 9, while the front edge of the knife projects beyond the front edge of the standard for cutting the fabric passed over the base-plate. The circular knife 3 is carried by the lowermost gear 8. This gear S is made as thin or narrow as possible consistent with mechanical strength, and on its outer side its gear-teeth are formed with short base extensions or shoulders 10, resembling a series of short truncated gear-teeth. These base extensions or shoulders 10 are of approximately the same thickness as the central portion of the knife itself or desirably slightly thinner than the knife. The thin knife-disk 3 has a central opening formed with a series of notches 11, shaped to fit over these shoulders or truncated base extensions 10 of the gear-teeth, the face of the knife resting flush against the side gear. The knifedisk is thus fitted in rigid position on the side of the gear-wheel, over its hub, and is clamped tightly against the side of the gear by an internally-threaded collar 12, which is screwed 'onto a reduced threaded hub 13 of the gear, covering the shoulders 10 and notches 11. Said collar 12 is shown in Fig. 4 provided with opposite holes 14 to receive a spannerwrench for screwing the collar tightly against the knife.

By this construction the retaining-gear of the knife can be made as thin as allowable for requisite strength, and at the same time the thin knife-disk is rigidly affixed to the gear in such manner as'to avoid slipping or working loose under the severe strain to which the knife is subjected in the operation of cutting fabric or a pile of fabrics, insuring perfect rigidity of the knife during its life. In prior IOO designs of cloth-cutting machines the knife-retaining gears have been necessarily made more or less large and wide owing to the use of pins, keys, screws, and the like for rigidly attaching the knife to the gear. Such pins, screws, keys, &c., while seriously affecting the mechanical strength of the narrow parts also continually become loose or wear away under the strain encountered by the knife, all of which objections are obviated bythe present improvement.

I prefer to have the truncated shoulders or base extensions l0 of the gear-teeth corresponding in number with the teeth and to have a corresponding number of notches in the circular knife, this being not only stronger, but also the simplest and least expensive construction to manufacture, although the same results may be obtained by a lesser number of intertted notches and shoulders, and therefore the invention is not essentially limited to a fixed number of such shoulders and notches or to a number corresponding exactly with the number of gear-teeth.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination of a gear and circular knife or cuttingdisk carried thereby, the gear-teeth having short or truncated base extensions at the outer side of the gear, and having a reduced threaded hub projecting from the same side, the knife having a central opening formed with notches fitting over said base extensions of the gear-teeth, and a collar screwed on said hub against the knife and clamping it against the gear.

2. In a cloth-cutting machine, the combination of the circular knife and retaininggear therefor, the latter having its gear-teeth formed at one side with thin and short or truncated base extensions, the knife having a'central opening formed with notches fitting over such base extensions, and means for clamping the knife in such position against the side of the gear.

3. A circular knife and retaining-gear for clothcutting machines, wherein the gearteeth are formed with short or truncated thin base extensions, and the knife has a central opening formed with notches fitting over such extensions, and a collar screwed to the hub of the gear and clamping the knife against the side of the gear.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY ANDREW MEYER..

Witnesses:

W. H. MATHEws, ToM C. DwYER. 

